DESIGN STUDIO VII, LAU DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, sec 33 & 34

The Kink project is a reflection of the slippery path of Mar Mekhayel
and the daily routine of circulation of pedestrians throughout the area.
At an urban scale analysis, one could notice the diversity of areas and
districts around Mar Mekhayel, and how these districts belong to a
unified category that defines them, ex: Beirut Port ( commercial),
Charles El Helou Station(commercial), Gemayze( commercial, residential),
etc.Thus, leaving Mar Mekhayel behind as an un identified area that
seeks an identity. And through analysis, it is quite noticeable that
throughout history the area had a commercial imprint, and it was once a
primary vein of the city that linked it all together. Therefor, we found
that this problematic, would only be solved by linking the city , or at
least the main vivid districts surrounding Mar Mekhayel through a
project that contains all the needs and wants of each area, including
Mar Mekhayel its self. Moving on to a more immediate setting analysis, a
certain fabric had to be maintained that would make the project a part
of the area and not an alien or an outcast. From that point on, the
generics above had been created which illustrate various spatial
conditions that exists in Mar Mekhayel and can be experienced while
moving around the area . From the Generics we moved on to the
metamorphosis of the spatial conditions from a simple generic form into
an actual space that exists inside our project. Overlapping of generic
models helped us create these spaces again, and extensions of vertical
and horizontal elements that formed these spaced aided in connection the
project all together. Taking into consideration 5 different approaches
from the neighboring districts, the project would open up at different
levels of generosity. By that, we believe that through a program of
needs and wants, and a structure of a continuing urban fabric, Mar
Mekhayel would once again be alive, as a the connecting vein of the
city.

Instructor

Course outline / objectives

The studio will focus in the Mar Mikhael area of downtown Beirut, Lebanon, explore and analyze its current urban conditions, speculate on the future dynamic of the area, and finally propose an architectural synthesis that comes to solve some of todays and possible future issues.

Mar Mikhael is following the rapid (yet ephemeral) change of Gemmayze, from a mainly local low income residents area, to a nightlife adventure land and ex patriots bee hive. Apparently Gemmayze followed the Hamra area in this urban gentrification whirlpool, a phenomenon in Beirut that seems to take place arbitrarily. Still, bars and restaurants in Gemmayze are now closing one after another, revealing a quite uncertain future for the area.

The scope of this studio is to design an “Urban Hub” in Mar Mikhael that will be able to sparkle viable growth. Students will have to answer the before mentioned problems, by their design strategy / proposal. They will have to propose a hybrid space: a mix of public and private spaces in a currently empty lot, that will be able to sustain today’ s gentrification of the area, while respecting the existing resident’s needs. Their final design will have to host diverse target groups that actually use it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This “Urban Hub” will have to promote sustainable, architecturally designed growth for the whole area, instead of the current arbitrary and ephemeral condition. The site is located between Madrid street, Pharoun street and the Coast highway.

Like Gemmayze, Mar Mikhael is characterised by a very dense and diverse city grid. Almost all of Beirut's building typologies can be found here. From dwellings dating back to the Ottoman Empire, to Bauhaus influenced concrete buildings of the 1920's and contemporary high end residential towers. Students are expected to analyze these typologies with drawings, photographs and sketches in their site analysis as well as the city fabric typologies.

At the same time, students will develop skills in using digital media as a design tool in the generation of a project, and not just as a representational tool at the end of the design process. Digital tools will have to be used in order to experiment with hybrid programmatic connections and transitions as well as tectonics and structure beyond Le Corbusier's DOM-INO model. Ambiance and atmosphere are also to be taken under consideration.

Readings extend from Rem Koolhaas's "Junkspace" and Reiser and Umemototo's "Atlas of novel tectonics" to Kevin Kelly's "Hive mind" in "Out of control".